George Washington Tours the Grand Strand
Even though the name Myrtle Beach has been around for less than 100 years, people have been enjoying The Grand Strand area for a few centuries, from the original Native American inhabitants to visiting dignitaries such as George Washington. The Waccamaw and Winyah Indians were the area's first inhabitants and now lend their names to rivers and bays here. The Indian burial mound near Little River and the remains of an Indian village near Murrels Inlet have been found. In 1791, two years after he was elected president, George Washington toured the Grand Strand. He wanted to acquire knowledge of the new states and to become aware of how people felt about the new country. In order to do this, he used an Indian trail that evolved into a stagecoach route, now U.S. Highway 17, and part of it is known appropriately as Kings Highway.
Myrtle Beach Founders, Settlers, and Farmers
Arriving on mules, colonial settlers and Scotch Irish farmers first trickled into this area from North Carolina. A settlement at Little River was established with cabins and farming a few acres. About the time of the Revolutionary War, Peter Horry, a French Hugenot planter, (Horry County) and Robert Conway (the county seat, Conway, which includes Myrtle Beach) settled in the area. Both men became large landowners, although the land largely consisted of swamps. In the 1890's F.G.Burroughs began timbering the swamps. The Conway Seashore Railroad was built to ship lumber and turpentine south to Georgetown. In 1900 Burroughs renamed New Town, the seashore terminal of the railroad, Myrtle Beach after the Crape Myrtle, the beautiful flowering shrub abundant along the seashore.
Myrtle Beach Awakens
By 1914, sandy dirt roads had been extended to the beach from Conway, and a few farmers and shopkeepers began what we may call vacationing at Myrtle Beach. Many of them pitched tents on the beach and in the sand dunes. Earlier in 1901, the resort's first hotel, The Seaside Inn, which included a commissary and a pavilion, opened. In the roaring 1920's a group of investors from Greenville, SC, built The Ocean Forest Hotel, Myrtle Beach's first grand hotel. This group bought most of the town, laid out the streets, and began selling lots.
An Embargo, A Golf Visionary, and A Snow Storm
The late 1960's and early 1970's saw Myrtle Beach emerge on the national scene partly due to an oil embargo, a golf visionary, and a snowstorm. The 1970's energy crisis and oil embargo sent gas prices soaring. Winter travelers, many of whom headed for Florida, realized a closer destination, Myrtle Beach, could be accessed by hanging a left off of I-95 just as it enters South Carolina. Many visitors came and never left. George "Buster" Ryan envisioned his hometown, Myrtle Beach, could become a golf mecca. In 1967 he not only built 2 golf courses but also added package golf weekends and "golfotels" - hotels for golfers. A few winters later a large snowstorm in North Carolina brought many golfers further south, and the rest is history - Over 110 challenging golf courses and lush golf communities exist in Myrtle Beach today!
Today's Myrtle Beach
South Carolina's Grand Strand - blue skies, sun-bleached sand, golden sunshine, curling breakers, gentle breezes, and laughing gulls. The extraordinary natural beauty of this coastline constantly attracts visitors. It's hard to break away from the pleasures of being at the ocean's edge - but so much awaits you in Myrtle Beach and the other towns that dot this nearly 60 mile long stretch of real estate sandwiched between the Intracoastal Waterway and the wide blue Atlantic. From Little River to Pawleys Island and Georgetown, you'll find scores of restaurants, dazzling nightlife, incomparable shops, amusements galore for all ages, and much more.
Let's Take a 60 Mile Tour From North To South!
THE NORTH STRAND
Many people who call the North Strand home boast that they still have the world's widest beach. While the claim may be disputed, no one will deny that this beach is remarkably wide - especially when the tide is at low ebb. This section of sand still offers plenty of room to bask in the sun, take long walks, build sandcastles, ride bikes, since the sand is so firmly packed, and play volleyball or paddleball, even when the tide is high.
Little River
Where the Carolinas meet, the sun smiles on the charming fishing village of Little River. Nestled beneath the twisted arms of weathered oaks, you'll discover an unhurried and uncommon side of the Grand Strand. From clutches of cheerful shops, an unexpected array of merchandise spills forth. You can also schedule a deep-sea fishing excursion, take a cruise down the Intercoastal Waterway or hang around and chat with tanned dockworkers while they haul in a day's catch. Restaurants, marinas, and fresh seafood abound. Water is the undisputed king, and everyone is subject to its rule. Like the rest of the North Strand, Little River is growing rapidly, but it's still possible to discover marvelous pockets of solitude in this historic fishing village.
North Myrtle Beach
North Myrtle Beach, proud home of the state's shimmy-in-your-well-worn-Weejuns dance, the Shag, which originated in Ocean Drive, makes up the largest section of the North Strand. The city was established in the 1960's. Cherry Grove, just south of Little River, is one of several communities that compose North Myrtle Beach. Sea Mountain Highway is the only way into Cherry Grove from U.S. 17, so watch the signs carefully. Cherry Grove has its share of oceanfront condominiums and motels, but away from the ocean you'll find rows of houses on pilings lining serpentine channels and inlets. Many Cherry Grove residents handpick this section of the Strand because they relish the joys of catching, cleaning, and cooking their own seafood. Along U.S. 17, the communities known as Ocean Drive, Crescent Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Windy Hill run together in a hard-to-distinguish blur. In fact, if you're not a local, it's nearly impossible to know when you've passed from one community into the next.
Briarcliffe Acres
Where North Myrtle ends, Briarcliffe Acres begins, sheltered by a wall of tall pine trees. Moderately upscale and almost solely residential, you're likely to miss this tiny town, if someone doesn't point it out. The easy way to find it is to look for the Colonial Mall on the west side of U.S. 17.
MYRTLE BEACH
The Grand Strand revolves around the city of Myrtle Beach. The resort area first became popular here, and everything seems to spider web outward from Myrtle Beach. In addition to shopping, amusement parks, miniature golf, water parks, waterway cruises, golf, and live entertaining theaters, there is a constant quest among promoters to find more ways to satisfy visitors and residents alike. Nearly 4 million rounds of golf are played in the area each year, making Myrtle Beach the No. 2 ranked golf destination in the country behind Florida but ahead of Arizona. Whether it is the golfer's paradise, the country music and live entertainment haven, the family beach, the food, the shopping, the amusements, the attractions - whatever the draw, Myrtle Beach seems to provide something for everyone.
SOUTH STRAND
Compared with the rest of the Grand Strand, the South Strand subscribes to a more leisurely pace and lifestyle, with less neon and glitter as well as a low-key nightlife with just as much allure. Many praise this stretch of lane with its rich marshland, uninhabited beaches, bountiful inlets and maritime forest, as the Carolina coast's finest reassure. For those same reasons, South Strand residents cherish their privacy and work vigilantly to protect the area's resources.
Surfside Beach
Residents of Surfside Beach have billed their town as "The Family Beach". The town's year round population is 4,000. Immediately adjacent to Myrtle Beach and most like it in nature, Surfside Beach has become a destination unto itself for those who like a little more solitude than Myrtle Beach offers.
Garden City Beach
Directly south of Surfside Beach is Garden City Beach, a family-oriented retreat sporting hundreds of residential homes, summer cottages, and condominiums. Surf fishing reels in many participants along the beach, which is also a favorite retreat for beachcombers. Garden City Beach is also one of the Grand Strand's most popular retirement destinations, with large controlled access senior citizen communities dominating the area.
Murrells Inlet
South of Garden City is Murrells Inlet, the oldest fishing village in the state. Murrells Inlet is home to anglers and more legends and ghost stories than any other part of the Grand Strand. Mickey Spillane, who created the detective character Mike Hammer, lives in the Inlet as do a dozen other nationally known novelists, poets, and musicians, all of whom love the small town atmosphere of being able to walk into a fish market or a barber shop without being mobbed. Fishing in the creeks and inlets has been a way of life for generations, and the quiet community boasts itself as the Seafood Capital of South Carolina. Best know to tourists for the 50 seafood restaurants in a 3 mile stretch, Murrells Inlet also is home to numerous antique shops, fresh seafood markets, and Captain Dick's, one of the Grand Strand's best marinas.
Just off Murrells Inlet is Drunken Jack Island, where, according to local legend, a pirate was accidentally marooned with no provisions except his shipmates' excess rum supply. Months later, when the ship returned to load up the rum cargo, all the crew found was case after empty rum case, empty rum bottles all along the shore, and the bleached bones of poor Jack. The treasure of Blackbeard is also reputed to be buried here.
Litchfield
The journey south on U.S. 17 from Murrells Inlet to Litchfield is a quick, pretty trip. Densely wooded areas line the highway and give a sense of traveling back in time, a sensation deliberately cultivated by locals. Carefully manicured landscapes adorn the median along the main highway. The popular resort of Litchfield Beach takes its name from Litchfield Plantation, a rice plantation on the Waccamaw River The manor house is one of the few still standing plantation homes surrounded by majestic oaks and is open as a country club and lodge. The beaches of Litchfield and Pawleys are among the widest, most litter free, and best preserved on the South Carolina coast.
Pawleys Island
Pawleys Island proclaims itself as the oldest resort area in America. Even in the 1700's the tiny barrier island was a summer retreat for wealthy plantation owners and their families. Despite storms and the ravages of time, many of their cottages, weather-worm and rustic looking, still remain. Today Pawleys is known for its low-key lifestyle, hand made hammocks, and sightings of the Gray Man, a friendly ghost who warns of impending hurricanes. The cherished lifestyle is carefully protected by islanders. The 2-mile island was incorporated as a town in 1984.
Georgetown
South of Pawleys Island and at the foot of the Grand Strand is Georgetown, a one time rice plantation and shipping community that is often called Little Charleston. With a Revolution War era flavor, the quaint cobblestone streets and its well-preserved two centuries old churches and homes, the flavor of the town really is colonial. A bell towered Rice Museum dominates the center of town and features exhibits that track the antebellum history of the plantation heyday.
Now that you know more about The Grand Strand Contact Your Grand Strand Specialists to help you to find your special place.
The following are sources used to provide information in The History and The 60 Mile Trip.
Fox, William Price, South Carolina Off the Beaten Path, 3rd Edition, 2001.
Leifermann, Henry, South Carolina, 3rd Edition, 2000.
Rentz, Lisa Tomer, and Kimberly Allyson Duncan, The Insider's Guide Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand, 6th Edition, 2001.
- NUMBER1EXPERT™ 
